Healing
by Mimo-chan
Summary: L and Near are in the hospital? My first story! Rated M just in case because of language, probably not going to get into any actual MattxMello any time soon.
1. Chapter 1

"Matt!" The leather-clad blonde yelled after entering the apartment.

"Shower." The guy with goggles on in the shower turned off the water.

"I don't care! Get your ass out here!" Mello was fuming. _Near, what'd you do this time_, thought Matt.

"Do you mind if I get dressed first," Matt asked after he noticed he didn't have any clothes in the bathroom.

"God _damnit_! I'm leaving without you!" Mello went for the car keys in the kitchen. 

Opening the bathroom door, Matt made a dash to the bedroom. "Where? And you're not taking MY car, Mel," he called through the door.

"Where in the hell are the keys!" Mello was already throwing things around.

"I have them, and why do we have to leave anyway?" _Pants, stripes, vest, shoes, done._ Jangling the keys on his way out, Matt saw the leathery fist milliseconds before contact.

"Mel-!"

"Near and L are in the hospital. A Kira supporter shot them. L got it in the shoulder, but Near's hit got him in his chest."

Importance? If L died, Near was next in line. If Near died, Mello was the next L, Matt being third. Now that that is cleared up, most people (all but Matt, L, and maybe Near) would probably think that Mello only wanted to go to the hospital to secure his spot if they did die. Matt knew better. Either way, L probably wanted to see his two not-in-the-hospital successors.

"Are they gonna make it?" Mello had reached down to help Matt back up in an apology.

"L hasn't woken up yet, probably because he hasn't slept in the past week, but he's fine. But Near's in surgery. Watari said they didn't know what would happen..." Matt looked at him, _he's actually worried about L __**and**__Near?_

He then walked into the kitchen, only to find that Mello had thrown the toaster at a chair then kicked both towards the back door. He let out a sigh and reached for his cigs and PSP. After putting them in their pockets, he opened a drawer for a chocolate bar, then rethought and grabbed three. When he walked back into the main room, the front door was open.

"Mello?" _Shit._ "Please don't hotwire my car." Matt rushed out into the sunlight. But Mello was only sitting in the car, staring at his rosary.

"You want to pray or have chocolate," Matt said walking up to the passenger side. Mello looked up, dazed. Suddenly, he grabbed the chocolate bars out of Matt's hand. Shaking his head, Matt walked around the car and got in.

"Mel?"

"Hm?"

"Which hospital and what are their aliases when we get there?" Matt started the car.

"Saint James. And, L is Hiro Kaito and Near's Evan Smith, but Watari is probably going to meet us outside," Mello answered quietly.

If Matt had looked at Mello right then, he would have seen half a bar gone before they had even gotten a block away. But he didn't and actually thought it was going to be a normal (if not high speed) car ride.

Something terrible happened though, about halfway to St. James when Matt put a cigarette in his mouth and started searching his pockets for a lighter – Mello finished his chocolate (Mello slightly scared with no chocolate is basically a blonde, gun-wielding disaster)! Matt felt eyes on him as he both swerved to avoid a loading school bus and dodge a dog running in front of the car.

Click.

He looked over to Mello only to see the black handheld aimed at his head.

"Don't even think about lighting that."

"Where do you even keep that thing?" He turned his gaze to the tight-fitting leather clothing from which the gun had magically appeared. When he didn't get an answer, Matt looked back at the road. Twelve people were crossing the street in front of the car, which was going at least 60 mph.

When he slammed on the brakes, Mello managed to bash his head into the dashboard and drop his gun. They were still going too fast, the only thing Matt could think of was to try to turn into a side street. Still on the brakes, Matt turned into the nearest one. It was a one way, and you guessed it, it was the other way.

"Shit."

"Matt, I'm gonna-"

"Wait a minute," Matt finished for him.

"No, wait, what? Why should I?"

_Because it's your fault._ "Read that sign, the one that says one way."

After some strategic, illegal driving they got going the right way again. It was after Mello's heart stopped beating one million mph that he remembered the blood now running down his forehead.

"Matt! I'm gonna kill you, it's a good thing we're on the way to the hospital! Do you have anything to wipe this _blood _off with? I'm outta chocolate too! Quit with the cigarettes! Matt! Are you even listening? And where'd my gun go, I'm gonna shoot you!" He started searching under the seat.

"No, you're not," the gamer finally responded.

"Dammit! Pull over! I can't find it, Matt!" Matt hoped Mello couldn't see him rolling his eyes behind his goggles, and pulled into a gas station. They got out at the same time, but Mello just turned around and kept searching under the seat. Matt walked towards the building. 

"Don't leave without me Mello!" _Let's see, a lighter, more friggin' chocolate, and some napkins, weird list._ Five minutes later, Matt went back out and almost ran right into Mello. 

"What took so long, Watari called. L woke up and I think Raito is already there!" He grabbed Matt by the wrist and herded him to the car. 

"So, found your gun I see," Matt said later when they could see the hospital ahead. When they got there, they parked and sat in silence until Matt couldn't stand it.

"Mello."

"Hmm?"

"He's gonna be fine. 


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, chapter 2 is up!! i don't know if i like this one as much as chapter 1, tho! please review and hope u like it!! :P

"_Mello."_

"_Hmm?"_

"_He's gonna be fine."_ No response.

Matt put his hand on the door handle, but Mello reached over the red head's chest to stop the movement. In a way that only Mello could, he managed to get the rest of himself over so that he was half on top of Matt.

"I don't wanna win this way," he whispered, barely audible, into Matt's shirt.

"I know. He knows, he _knows_ because he's fine." Matt was still trying to convince himself and started absently stroking the blonde hair. It was then that Mello realized he was lying on Matt, while the only person who could not only be Kira, but was also the person who put his idol and enemy in the hospital, and not in said hospital beating this person.

When Mello tried to pull away, it startled Matt into almost ripping the hair out of the head it belonged to. As punishment, when the gamer let go, the chocolate addict reached up and pulled the orange tinted goggles out about, oh say three inches, and let them snap back onto Matt's face.

"What exactly is your problem?!" the normally-calm-one screamed as Mello jumped out of the car on his own side. By the time the tears had gone and he had somehow caught up with Mello, he was on the phone with Watari.

"I don't care!! You're going crazy, you senile old man!" Mello slammed his phone shut and sped up his pace.

"Mel, wai-"

"Oh! Hey, it's you two!"

"Go away, Bitch!" (A/N: his nickname for you-know-who) Mello grabbed Matt's shirt and dragged him even faster through the parking lot.

"I don't see why you don't like Mi-" Mello's hand let go of Matt's shirt to slap over the boy's mouth instead.

"Don't even say her name! Hurry up." They reached the doors of St. James seconds later and Mello made sure he slammed the door in the other blonde's face.

Matt, looking around nonchalantly, said in a sing-song voice, almost like a school girl, "Raito's gonna kill you." After that he lost all interest in the catfight separated by glass, Watari was coming out of the elevator. He looked mad.

"We were supposed to wait for her weren't we, Mello?" Mello was holding the door closed so that Misa couldn't get in.

"You're so mean!!" the other scantily clad (you know Mello's in that one leather vest and hip hugger outfit of his) blonde was screaming.

Matt sighed and stopped Watari on his way to scold Mello for not keeping a good eye on the second Kira suspect. He asked which room L was in, when Near was going to be out of surgery, got both answers, and got in the elevator in the time it took Misa to go through a different door.

The hacker smirked when the slightly manlier-looking blonde in the room started franticly looking around for him. He spotted him just as the doors closed to go up to the 8th floor.

Mello was just about ready to explode by the time the group of three got out of the elevator near L's room. When the doors opened, he had jumped through and knocked a nurse into the wall, making her drop everything. He started to yell at her, but the crashing and yelling down the hall cut him off.

* * *

When Matt walked into L's room, he had to duck to avoid whatever the insomniac had thrown at Raito. The door was only open for a minute, but the vase still had time to go and smash into the wall on the other side of the hall.

"Hey, that almost hit me."

"I don't care!! Ryuuzaki, give me five seconds, do you want the Kira supporter to get away? No, I'm still here, what? Just do what I say!!"

"I am now 87 sure you are Kira. And stop yelling!"

"Stop throwing things at me! And at least take the cuffs off for a while-! What? Round up all the supporters you can find? Yes, I told you that four times already!!" He shut his phone, almost breaking it in his anger.

Watari knocked on the door to signal the rest of the group was going to join them.

"Raito!!" Misa burst through the door and landed on the one not in the hospital bed.

"Oh, hi." the two by the bed responded at the same time.

Giving an angry look at L, Raito said, "Why are you here, Misa?"

"She is here because I decided it would be safer if we could see her. You know she could be doing something as second Kira while we are all not at headquarters." L then motioned for Watari to go over and talk to him.

"Misa has told you, she's not Kira!!" Misa made that pouty face of hers and cuddled into Raito who proceeded to somehow rip her off of him. He told her to sit in the only chair in the room not overturned.

"I said second Kira," he said after he had finished telling Watari something. "Mello? Come in, would you?" L had switched to English for the other blonde who had been standing in the doorway staring at a wall until then.

"Ryuuzaki, glad you're alright, but, uh…" He walked all the way in and stopped. For once in his life he was at a loss for words, so he looked to Matt for assistance. The guy smoking in the HOSPITAL had been leaning in a corner, his PSP on since the elevator watching over everything. He felt the blue eyes on him and paused his game, looking at Mello then at L.

"How is Near doing?" he asked a little unsteadily, following suit with L, in English.

"Oh, he's alright. The bullet missed his heart- Raito stop glaring at me!" Since the college student could understand English as well, L stuck with it.

"If you had just listened to me in the first place, we wouldn't be in this stupid hospital!"

"What do you mean?" Mello had walked over to stare out the window right after he had gotten his answer, but now he looked up at his idol.


	3. Chapter 3

This whole making more chapters thing is really hard!! if any one cares if Near dies or not, now would be the time to review, i haven't decided yet. hope you guys like this one!!

* * *

"_What do you mean?"_ Mello had walked over to stare out the window right after he had gotten his answer, but now he looked up at his idol.

"Raito, please be quiet or I will not let you even be escorted by Watari to take a shower tonight. Mello, it is none of your concern, why don't you and Matt go check on Near? Report back, yes?" he was technically only asking Matt, who was actually paying attention.

Matt nodded and started walking towards the door while Mello continued to glare at both Raito and L. The red head noticed the blonde hadn't moved and decided to risk being shot at again, "Mello, I thought that's why we were in a hurry, to make sure Near is alright?"

Mello instantly threw the balled up foil wrapper of the chocolate bar he had been eating at Matt's head. It hit his goggles and when it had moved he could see Misa giggling next to Raito.

"Shut up! I wasn't in a hurry! Stop making things up! And what are you laughing at?" he said finally headed towards the door.

"Whatever you say." Matt smiled at the room, reached into his pocket and threw one of Mello's chocolate bars at L.

"Hey!" Mello ran the rest of the way out of the room and into the nurse again. And again she dropped all of what she was holding.

"Nice, Mello."

"Sorry, Miss. And you, Idiot! You have no room to talk, you're _smoking_ in a hospital!" and with that he bent down and started to help the nurse. Matt almost died when both Mello and Nurse reached up to put their short hair behind their ear at the same time.

Back in the room three things happened: L started yelling at Raito in French (Japanese and English would tell the others and they both knew French), Misa went to stand by the door, and, most importantly, the hospital put a phone on the nightstand, within reach of L. He sat up, reached over, and threw it, causing Raito to duck. He forgot about the cuffs and when Raito pulled his arm down to the floor, the detective lost his would-be perfect balance due to lack of drugs, sugar, or blood.

L reached his good arm out for balance and ended up pushing Misa out the door instead. She stumbled into the hallway with a squeal and if a certain leathery blonde hadn't just finally gotten the last of the blankets/bedpans off the floor, she would have been fine.

But no.

All three fell to the floor, this time Nurse hit her head on the wall. She passed out as Mello realized what had happened and started yelling, not to mention kicking, at Misa.

Matt missed the whole ordeal, as he had snuck away some time ago.

One full hour later, the door to the roof was flung open, was slammed into the wall, and kicked "just because I can!"

"Why are you up here? I've been looking for a whole hour!!"

"You said I couldn't smoke inside, didn't you?" Random cuss words that had nothing to do with the situation came out of the blonde's mouth.

"What took so long anyway?"

"Fucking Raito and Misa, that's what!" Matt closed his eyes after the blonde had told his, his, side of the story and turned off his PSP, saving Mario for later. Mello was still ranting so…

"Did you hear that Near got out of surgery?" Blue eyes snapped around to glare at Matt instantly.

"No…"

"Well then, let's go." Matt made an attempt to get up, but found that difficult when Mello decided to push him back into the wall. Hard.

"Mello, ow, Watari said he got out a while ago, he might wake up soon." Matt had always been one of only three people who could look Mello in the eye for the extended period of more than five seconds, and he was going to use that at the moment.

"I told you, I'm not worried about that little albino brat!" he was standing close enough to touch and if Matt had tried to get away, he would have been knocked back against the wall.

So he gave up, "Mel, come on, I know you. You were, and still are, worried about him. You're just trying to delay this, or save your ego, or whatever." Then Matt looked away.

Matt's P.O.V

Damn it! Why can't I shut up? He's gonna hit me for sure. Shit, and he's still staring at me, I can feel it.

"You can go by yourself then. I'm going home now." What?

"Why can't you just admit it? You need him. Without him you wouldn't have anything to live for, or fight for, or… You wouldn't…" No, bad tongue! Okay, no more cigarettes in hospitals, they cause karma to kick you.

I already knew what he was going to do, so the hand around my throat wasn't that much of a surprise. The utter lack of words on Mello's part was though. While I waited for the screaming, I realized I could smell his shampoo from here.

"H-hey, you guys!!" the hand slackened a little as Raito came running through the still-open door.

I heard the _damn it_ muttered by Mello, but didn't know why. He moved and I saw why. Raito looked a little sad and freaked out, though that smug freak was probably trying to hide it.

"Why did he let you go, I thought L said he would never let you go until the world ran out of sugar?" Mello was trying to not think about what Raito could say; I would bet my life on it.

"Yeah, well, he didn't have your numbers because Watari was busy. The little one, Near, he woke up, I don't really know, but I don't think he's doing too well. I heard something about pain and crying. Whatever, Ryuuza-L just said he needed you two to go over to his room immediately." Near was that bad that L would let Raito go walk around freely? But, he can't be… I need a cigarette. What about Mello? Shit, whether or not he admits it, this is gonna be hard on him.

"Still wanna go home?"

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this is so late, i had said to myself i would do this update once a week, but i didn't have internet and i had like two words written down and yeah so here is chap. like 4 i think

oh and i like the cliff hangy things tell me if you hate them, and if anyone still cares what happens to Near, you still have a chance to let him live/die, i would like him to die for a plot (i don't have one) so help me by REVIEWING!! please?

* * *

"Still wanna go home?"

Even Raito cringed when Mello turned around and (bitchcough) slapped Matt.

"I'm only going because L said to," the blonde said with finality.

So, when Matt stopped seeing pretty, sparkly stars, he replied, "And to think I stole some stupid Band-Aides for you…" _Damn, Mello did I really deserve that …… I'll go with maybe._ After a second more of thought, Matt decided to follow Mello, who was rushing Raito out the door. They used the stairs to go down only two floors, something about "too many people."

Raito stopped outside of the elevators suddenly, making Mello almost run into a third person that day.

"I have to go buy more time with the taskforce, and of course Matsuda is the one I'm meeting with, so tell L I will be back up after I explain to him why we aren't at headquarters five times. Anyway, just go to the other end of this hall, past mostly everything else, room 804."

"Yeah, whatever," Mello looked around for anyone within earshot, and when he found no one he added, "Kira."

"How many times do I-"

"Shut up. I thought you were leaving today."

The nicotine addict and the chocolate addict continued on as Raito went over to the elevator and practically punched the down button, grumbling something about idiots with names starting with "M".

"Shit, we're not even to regular patients room's yet, this is gonna take forever!" And if you didn't notice, Mello didn't seem too upset that he had just slapped his best friend in front of the man they both thought to be Kira, their worst enemy. Matt decided it was time for a guilt trip.

"Mello, I should tell you something. You know, to clarify why I don't hate the kid and want him to die in the burning pits of Hell with no toys forever?" He held his breath, hoping that tray of syringes was out of this crazy person's reach.

"No matter what you say, I'm still gonna-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, 'hate and despise him'. Whatever, just listen."

"Pfft, fine, just make it fast."

"You remember that time when Beyond somehow got back into Wammy's on Christmas Eve?"

"Yeah, first and only time we ever heard L yelling at anyone. We were what, six-ish? But I thought you were on the roof and didn't hear about it until morning?" _Yes, sweet revenge and oh, shit did I save my game earlier? _

"Damn… What? Anyway, remember how you had broken my Game boy -inthemiddleofbeatinghtehelloutofLance! - and I ran off? Well, it just so happens that I ran into Near, like, _into_ him. So, after we got out of the Nurse's Office, I decided to steal him one of his presents early. So, we go to the library, the tree was in there that year, and…"

The red head paused at a water fountain to alleviate his suddenly dry mouth, at the same time noticing (and cursing that) they were almost to room 700 already.

"Umm, oh! So we get there, and we see who appears to be L, right? Of course it was Beyond, but they look so much alike from behind, we couldn't tell. I yelled "hey" or something and he turned around. Then Near starts shivering, I think he could tell it wasn't L, and I start to walk over to him. Beyond said something like "oh, it's just you two. I was just about to go look for you, why don't you come sit in one of these chairs while I go get some cake?" and then I started to think, you know, what happened to "Mail" and "Nate"? I am third for a reason. L always calls us by our real names, and he can always tell when we're sneaking up on him and-" _Damn._

Watari was out in the hallway talking to a doctor, they were looking into one of the rooms. Both Mello and Matt froze when they heard crying coming from the room. Matt snapped out of it when he heard his real name and ran into the room, pushing past Watari and the doctor. Mello wasn't too far behind, but didn't really understand yet. Watari gave him a look, then remembered to go find Misa.

The first thing Mello saw when he walked into the room was L trying to get Near to drink some water, obviously drugged (he couldn't stand the sight or the taste of it himself). The second thing he saw was Matt talking to him while trying to take off his goggles and hold on to his hand and pull the kid's covers back up at the same time.

Near's covers had mostly fallen off of him, but that probably wasn't the reason he was shaking convulsively was as far as Mello's brain would go for the moment.

"Near, just drink it. It'll only be us here when you wake up, and look Mello is even here. I think he was worried about you earlier. Come on, you know this is L, Near." Matt reached across Near to grab the cup of water L was probably going to drop. The older man looked like he was ready to pass out at any given moment, being that he was just shot and hadn't taken his meds in an hour.

"Miheal, can you walk me back to my room? And where is Raito, I told him to come back with you all, didn't I?" L was having trouble even standing, and Mello had yet to even walk into the room.

"What? Oh, 'guess so," Mello said, slightly dazed, still not understanding why no one was acting as they normally did. "He went downstairs to tell someone from the taskforce something."

The crying stopped after that, Matt had poured most of the water on their clothes, but enough in Near's mouth to make him quiet down a little.

"What did you put in that?"

"One moment, Mail. Doctor Kurotan, will you please tell me why …Evan was not sedated enough to keep him from waking up and almost tearing his stitches?"

"The nurse that I told to give him the medication apparently has a concussion, I really thought he had gotten it."

Mello, L, and Matt all looked up in somewhat varying degrees of disbelief as Near passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you people who have commented!C: everyone else: please comment!! i need a plot and actual HEALING would probably come in handy... Anyhoo, hope u like this chapter!!

"_The nurse that I told to give him the medication apparently has a concussion, I really thought he had gotten it."_

Near passed out.

L sat back down and pulled his knees to his chest.

Mello went and sat in a nearby chair.

Matt was tempted to throw the cup at someone.

The doctor looked confused, both at their reactions to his news of the nurse and the fact that some weird guy was sitting weirdly in his chair, a redhead was wearing goggles, and some girl, wait! guy? who was wearing leather were all friends of the relatively normal looking gun shot wound patient.

"I didn't think you all would take the news so badly…" a still stumped doctor said looking around one more time.

L, ever the top three detectives in the world, recovered first.

"No, it's nothing like that Dr. Kurotan, it's just a little…ironic, is all. Anyway, I think I should go back to my room now. Uh, _Michael_, didn't you say you would walk me there?"

After about five seconds Matt threw the cup at Mello's head (**mostly**) because the blonde was zoning out again.

"Matt! Why did you-!"

"Michael! Tell Matthew good-bye, we are leaving." L said, cutting off Mello's anger.

"Yes, sir! Sorry…uh, Doc?" Mello responded as L turned to Matt and mumbled something to him.

"Yes Michael, was it?"

For the third time that day Mello was at a loss for words.

"He's gonna be ok, right?" he finally said quietly.

Being the closest one to the guy that had just made a chocolate bar appear by obvious witchcraft, the doctor was the only one to hear him.

"Ah, it's kind of hard to say actually. We are only worried about infection at this point. But if he is going to do that every time we take him off his meds, we may have more of a problem."

L overheard, sighed, tried to stand up, failed, and motioned for Mello to go over and help him.

"I think that he was simply remembering something from our past. He had long since mostly forgotten about it, and seeing me first after such a traumatic incident must have triggered the memory to surface again. I'm sure he will learn to cope with it once again, Dr. Kurotan." Mr. Sugar walked slowly with Mello half carrying him over to where Dr. Kurotan was still standing in the doorway.

"Yes, well, I should get Evan's stats and put him on his _proper_ medication now. And you shouldn't even be out of bed Mr. Kaito, I will have a nurse come by in a moment. Err, Matthew if you're the only one staying behind, you should know that Visitor's Hours are almost over. You have about forty-five minutes I think."

The doctor walked over to Near's bed and grabbed his chart as L and Mello went out into the hallway.

"Do you think he'll wake up again?"

"No, this medication will wear after I have already given him the sedative. You can come back tomorrow though."

"Yeah, I'll leave now then-hey! Wait up _Mike_!"

Once the room was empty except for the little sleeping kid, the doctor sighed.

"You have some weird friends, Evan."

He proceeded to take Near's pulse and other doctorly things and missed the slight smile that appeared on the kid's face.

In other places, Misa almost falls down the stairs and Watari almost laughs at her before grabbing her wrist and dragging her back up to L's room. Raito feels like bashing his head into a wall and wishes his dad hadn't sent the idiot to the hospital. Raito's dad sneezes. Matsuda flinches at the look on Raito's face and hurries out of the hospital.

Near's dream

Why is there dream sequence music and fog-OW!

"Near! I'm sorry! It was actually Mello's fault, I swear!" Of course it was Mello's fault! What had I ever done to him!

"It's alright, Matt. What did Mello do this time?" I try to get up, but when I lean on my arm, it buckles under me. When I inspect further, I find that it is bleeding and Matt is probably going to freak. He had given the reason he ran into me. I should ask him again, though.

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"We should probably go to the nurse's office."

"Why? Oh my god you're bleeding!" I manage to stand up this time. What was so sharp that I would cut myself? I reach down. Oh, Megatron. I knew he was evil.

We make it there without me passing out and Matt tells me how Mello is just as evil as Megatron (in my words, not his) again. When we get there, the nurse freaks too and gives us a lecture about Santa or something. Then she gives me a candy cane and Matt a glare and sends us to our dorms to await the jolly old man that is to come and leave us presents tonight.

We both roll our eyes as soon as she closes the door behind us. Matt pulls on my sleeve as I try to go upstairs.

"Why don't we go steal one of Mello's presents? He won't notice if it's from one of his worshippers. I just have to remember which one is Linda's, so we don't take that one."

"That would be a pretty good present from you. I don't think you got me anything this year." He blushes. Of course he didn't get me anything, if Mello found out, he'd kill us both.

And so the journey to the library begins and ends shortly thereafter. The door is locked, but I don't worry because Matt has picked the lock on Roger's safe once before. The old man still doesn't know that both Matt's and Mello's files disappeared, and then magically reappeared a week later. He also doesn't realize the real reason why Matt gets depressed on Mother's Day. She's a terrible person, nothing like the boy who just got both of these locks picked in less time than it would take to use the keys.

"Crap! There's someone in there! Near, go stand over there. Wait, never mind it's just L. Holy bad word, it's L!"

"Really? Let me see!" A wave of terror shoots through me as the older man in the dark library turns around at the sound of Matt's greeting. Why am I so scared of L?


	6. Chapter 6

i really hate this chapter, the ending sucks, it's mostly a flashback, near-centric, but it may lead to a plot. this chapter might be edited, but it will only be the end of it if at all, so...REVIEW AND STUFF, and oh! next chapter has some making out!!

* * *

_Why am I so scared of L?_ He's my idol, so why do I have this terrible feeling? Wait, Matt! Don't go over there and just leave me here! I should probably say this out loud…

"Oh, it's you two. That's good; I was just about to go look for you. You seem to be missing one of your group. Why don't the two of you just wait while I go get him and some cake? You can sit here and wait, I won't be long." He's walking toward me, what do I do? Oh yeah! I reach out and grab the back of Matt's shirt.

He looks back at me a little surprised and already worried. He must be thinking the same thing: L always, no matter what, always says, "Hi, Nate/Mail/Miheal! And he always already has cake or candy sitting out or in his pockets. Plus, no matter what we do, he always catches us sneaking up on him and usually doesn't care if one of us is missing (I think he prefers Mello and I to not be in the same room for more than ten seconds).

Matt takes my hand and pulls me to the other side of him as the fake L walks by. The boy's always been a little protective of me since he was with Mello when the idiot had broken my arm. He hadn't stopped it until I was crying and since then he has tried to make it up to me as much as possible. But payment may not be the thing on his mind right now. I still hope neither of us need protection from this person.

Matt's hand tightens around mine, I look at him as he says, "You're Beyond, aren't you?" Beyond? Who in the Hell is that?

"L told me and Mello about you one time. Get out now or we'll scream. I'm sure L is here by now."

Matt! WTF!? I hadn't been looking at this Beyond person but at Matt and I don't really understand why Matt would say this before the man leaves. We could at least leave before he comes back. Then I look over at our fake L and find out I should ask the nurse about _selective hearing_.

The door was shut and locked while I had been listening to Matt talk.

What use is being next in line for L if I can't even multitask at a time like this?!

"You will do no such thing. And what makes you think I don't _want_ L to find me?" That voice sounds so much like L's, even if it is a little colder. Matt's hand tightens around mine again almost painfully.

Whatever, now that we're stuck here with this person, I should think of a way to get out. Okay, there are four rows of bookcases over there, then there's the window, those chairs and the lamp next to it. And I distinctly remember Mello telling me Matt had found tunnels all through the orphanage after the two had found some maps in the basement, maybe one of them is around here…

Matt turns around, breaking my concentration (I really have to work on that!), and puts me behind him.

He wants me to get out of here. Does he know I don't know if I can even reach the window to open it, let alone find a hidden passage, or unlock that stupid door?

"Why did you shut that door? We could go get L for you or-"

"Because you are now hostages, he has to do as I say now." Matt starts walking backwards so suddenly I almost trip over our feet. We're almost to the window when Beyond starts walking towards us, he probably doesn't want us to escape…

Wait! We're on the first floor! We could just jump out the wind- Matt! He pushed me down again, but why?

"Near, go to Fiction and hide!" But all I can do is wonder how Beyond had moved that fast and how Matt had remembered to get me out of the way before he fell on me. His hair is more messed up than before, red marks already forming from where Beyond slapped him.

Hold on a minute, Fiction? That's over in the corner…next to an air vent! It must be a way out of here, why else would he say that? I can't just leave Matt here with this obvious psychopath though! Genius, start working! Oh, wait, there it goes!

He's not gonna let both of us go willingly, but maybe if I hurry and think of something, he'll let me go get L. I formulate a plan and stand up, hoping Beyond won't hurt Matt while I'm gone.

Matt stands up, and I run for the far end of the room, that's when I remember I'm in my pj's that are far too long and the last time I ran around outside was a few months ago when Mello was chasing me. So, of course, I trip, but somehow I don't fall.

Behind me, Beyond is pushing Matt out of the way to go after me, he catches up as I run into the wall (I tripped again). The next thing I know is I'm on the floor, and it feels like there's a stake going through my chest. Beyond kicked me again in the same spot, managing to crack my ribs this time.

He grabs me and throws me into a bookcase.

There's no more pain as I pass out.

Regular timeline

Near woke up in his hospital bed, just like the first time almost ten years ago. This time he's completely alone though, without Roger freaking out, L hiding in the corner with a dead look on his face, or Matt sleeping in the bed next to him. Fear washed over him, but he managed to control it by going over most of the periodic table in his head.

He looked over at the nightstand for a phone, trying to remember either L's or Matt's number, but found a piece of paper instead. It was Mello's handwriting; the blonde had enough sense to know that Near would want updates on everything that had happened.

The first thing it said was "L's okay", then something about Matt needing driving lessons (or a real license for that matter). The last thing Near read before he passed out again was that this was the only special "wish you didn' get shot by a Kira supporter" treatment the younger was going to get from the older blonde.


	7. Chapter 7

About an hour before Near woke up and found Mello's note, Matt was driving home with an ultra out-of-it Mello. The blonde was staring out the window and Matt even got to smoke. Then, Mello randomly turned to the red head and said, "Rest of the story. Now!"

Matt swerved at the sudden outburst and threw his cig out the window in one swift move before the chocolate addict noticed it.

"Maybe tomorrow."

"You seemed like you wanted to tell me earlier."

"I just thought I should ask Near about something first."

"Matt, Near is in no condition to talk about it right now, I bet he'd rip out his stitches if you asked him anyway. Just tell me!"

Matt never responded to that, so five minutes later when they got back to the apartment, he no longer had goggles. They walked to the door, found out Matt needed door locking lessons as well, and went in without fighting.

Matt, not wanting to talk, quickly thought of a plan and said, "Mello!"

"What? Are you gonna tell me now?"

"Maybe later, I really don't feel like it. But you know what I _do_ want to do?" Mello stopped at his bedroom door to look at Matt.

"Do I want to know? Your plans usually get us almost killed."

"Clean Out The FRIDGE!!" He pointed to the refrigerator with fake enthusiasm.

"You can't talk, but you wanna clean out the refrigerator? But at least it doesn't sound dangerous." With a glint in his un-goggled eyes, Matt went and looked for a garbage can. After debating about whether or not to get garbage bags, he went into the kitchen. He found Mello putting his gun down on the counter between the fridge and the sink and staring at said fridge.

"When was the last time we even opened this?"

"I looked in there yesterday and found cheese four months old, something with mold on it, and cottage cheese in a milk carton." Mello made a face of disbelief and opened the fridge door only to close it quickly again.

"No."

"…Fine. I'll tell you the rest if you help me." The gamer chose this moment to try to pick up his goggles off of the table.

"Bastard…Why do we have to clean it anyway, this is stupid!" Mello grabbed the goggles he had just put on the table back up and replaced them with his gun with a "slam". Matt didn't answer for a minute, either pretending to be mad or not.

"I'll just wake up with a nightmare every hour tonight unless I just don't sleep. Happy now?" Looking at the floor, Matt pushed Mello a little to get him to get out from in front of the refrigerator. For the second time that day, Mello was pressed into Matt, trying to hug him, but managing to only lean against him due to the trash can in the red head's hand.

"You realize the only way for me to forgive you is if you help me, right?"

"May I remind you that you are a bastard?" They moved apart.

"You did a minute ago."

"I meant reinforce it, then." The fridge was opened and the night was started.

Twenty minutes later both were gagging and having a competition of who could guess the mold-covered item. At one point, Matt found his missing pack of cigarettes from two months ago and gave a questioning look at Mello who averted his gaze to the bag of mystery jelly in front of him. They had taken most of the stuff out of the fridge after seeing most of it was going to be dumped, but to make it last longer they just set it out on the floor. Mello said it was to make sure they don't throw away anything that was still good.

Mello was leaning against the now closed refrigerator and Matt was leaning against a leg of the table and the hacker had dodged the whole Near and Beyond thing for almost an hour until,

"Roger told me Near wasn't going to stay at Wammy's for a while. That's why I was on the roof."

"What?" Mello was staring at a…something and missed the first half of what Matt had said.

"They wouldn't let me stay with Near to comfort him, so I went to the roof to avoid everyone."

"Oh…Why did he leave anyway? Roger wouldn't tell me and I guess I never thought to ask you."

"Beyond had amazing control. He knew how to hit a person without making them hurt so much as to make them pass out right away. At least, that's what Near says. But that's all he'll ever say on the matter. I wasn't really paying much attention, all I could think about was why Beyond wanted to talk to L and…He doesn't blame me for walking right in there, but it's my-" Matt was gonna have a break down, even a blind man could see it.

"No it's not, no one blames you. If Near doesn't blame you, then no one does." Mello was trying to make his way over to Matt, a process involving making a path through the moldy things. When he got within touching range of Matt, he reached over to him to remove the goggles he had given back to the gamer forty-five minutes ago. Matt didn't do much but raise his knees so he could lean on them like L did.

Mello leaned his head against Matt's, so that the red and yellow contrasted and mixed together nicely. Mello was next to Matt and the gamer was facing forward and Mello wanted to comfort him properly, needed to look him in the eyes and tell him everything was over and done with and everyone was fine. He turned Matt's head, but then he didn't know how to say these things. _What if I make things worse?_

He could only look into the green eyes and hope just looking comforting would be enough for a while at least. Before he could do anything though, Matt closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Mello's. Now the blonde had to say something, anything. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

Matt had moved his head only a fraction and pressed his lips to Mello's, and by the way he didn't move, it seemed as though he had done it on purpose. By the time Mello's mind started working again from the pure shock, Matt had his head tucked away in the folds of his arms again.

_This is going to be a long, not to mention awkward, night, isn't it?_

the making out was crappy, i know! i need some help, if you review i will let you guys tell me what Mello's reaction is...tell me if i suck at this, cause i think i do and i need some help!!

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

EEEEEEEEEEK, i'm sooooo sorry for being so late with this up date, the good thing is i have most of the next chapter in my head so the second i get within reach of a computer, i'll start typing that. This one has a lot of dialogue, kind of filler i guess! nex one will have more actiony stuff. R&R, please?

Mello- Someone tell me what just happened

Mello- Someone tell me what just happened! What in the name of God just happened?

Matt- Shit! What'd I just do?

Mello- I'm gonna kill him! How can I do that without any neighbors calling the cops? Or L, shit! Maybe he didn't mean to? Yeah…

Matt- He's gonna kill me! Sigh, I'll just say I was really sad and I've actually been up since two in the morning, I think I'm hallucinating… Why did he have to put his face there anyway?

Mello- Maybe this is what is going on with Near? I doubt that if Near and his stupid "I don't have to react to anything" self still aren't over that night, that Matt is. He's not good with apologies or make-ups or the aftermath of anything that involves him, actually. Guess I overlook that because he's the one holding me back from killing _certain_ people. I guess I could just let this slide and pretend it NEVER happened.

Matt- Maybe Near and L getting shot put him in a not killing me mood today and he'll just forget about this. I could use the I'm-pitiful-please-be-sympathetic face if he does start yelling or kicking or God forbid throwing that nasty food at me.

Mello- I think I probably owe it to him to forget about this, but he does have to pay a price: chocolate and bed in five minutes. He won't have to worry about nightmares or whatever, I'm giving him that sedative he stole from that pharmacy, I just hope it'll knock him out completely. Dammit, why didn't we think about that before we took everything out of the- I hate Near. I'll just blame Kira for now. I love this plan!

Matt- What should I do if he takes out his gun and threatens to kill me? Is he even still in the kitchen? If he is he still hasn't moved, I should see if…

"Mello?"

"Matt!"

"What?!" Same time.

Matt snapped his head back into the table leg as Mello slammed his hand into what he thought was the floor. Mello tried not to vomit and Matt kind of hid under the table. At least Mello thought he did at first, until he noticed that Matt was not moving under the table, it was moving _over_ him.

Then he remembered that tables don't do that and realized that the stupid idiot had broken the leg and that the table was crashing down on him. A half a second later, Matt figured this out as well and covered his head just as the thing hit him and the floor.

Because they only had fifteen dollars the day they bought the table, it cost about five, so instead of leaning over to the side that no longer had a leg and making a wall kind of thing, the other three legs buckled. The whole tabletop was holding down the already depressed hacker. Luckily they had moved the chairs against the wall so nothing else could crash on top of the red head.

Mello had just managed to get the table off of Matt when the doorbell rang.

"Shit, Matt, I'll be right back. Neighbors probably want to call the cops, I have to scare them away. If anything hurts stay here, but if not, get to bed right now!"

Somehow Matt heard and understood everything the blonde had just said, somehow the only thing that registered was that if Mello scared the neighbors away, they were gonna call the cops anyway. So, being the kind of guy he was (the kind of guy that didn't want to spend a night in jail) he went to the front door to explain everything.

Arm wrestling gone bad. They believed it. Matt went to lie down on the couch because more neighbors came downstairs, leaving Mello to tell the wonderful story. He didn't kick or yell at anyone. The only thing that gave any indication that he was angry was that he had moved on to his secret stash of dark chocolate.

But then his phone rang as he was walking back over to Matt to tell him to get to bed or he was gonna die. This ringtone sounded like an old fashioned bell telephone-thingy, while Matt's was currently Famous Last Words, Near's was an incoherent screeching sound, and L's was Candy Man.

"Shit. Shit. Fuck!" He kicked the couch that Matt was on.

"What were you doing when you found out L and Near were in the hospital?" Matt sat up and watched as Mello ran around the kitchen and living room. After finally finding the runaway phone, he gave it a chance to ring one more time before flipping it open and yelling, "What?"

"Yes, I remember! Who do you think I am? Uh huh… yeah, I think so… last week…" Matt didn't here the rest of the conversation because his phone went off on the coffee table in front of him. He burst out laughing when he saw who was calling. If he hadn't put on vibrate, he would have had to explain to Mello why exactly Near's ringtone was Beethoven's fifth (their little joke that if Mello found out Near would call Matt sometimes, they would be in for a lot yelling). Dum Dum Da DUUUUUM.

"I'm on the phone with a scary mafia leader in L.A., will you shut up?" Deciding sticking his tongue out a Mello was childish, Matt threw a pencil he found on the ground at the blonde's head. Mello glared at him but still went on a journey through the refrigerator muck for an ice pack.

After making sure Mello was relatively distracted, Matt went into his bedroom and answered his phone.

"Near! Are you alright? Did you talk to L yet?" He sat down at his computer and took it out of Hibernation.

"Oh, that's okay, do you remember what happened? Ow ow ow!" _Leaning head against chair, bad idea! Wait, what'd he say?_

"What? Ha ha, no. But he was mildly worried about you." He decided only check his e-mail, instead of finding out what was happening on the MMORPG front.

"He wrote you a note? When? We were there for a while, three hours maybe, you don't remember waking up that one time?" _Only two e-mails?_

"Oh…you kind of freaked out. L said you thought he was…BB, and now Mello wants the story. 'Guess it's actually good that I hit my head on the table, I got out of telling him tonight." _Wow, and a head injury is almost worth it, too._

"What, are you kidding? Tables are far less deadly than Mello." It was true, check the scar on the red head's ribcage if you want proof.

"Sorry, Mello's calling, he just got done talking to the guys in L.A., so I'll call you when he's done being mad about that. Bye." There was another yell and a knock on Matt's door as he shut his phone and walked over to his door.

Matt almost missed what happened next. Mello thrust a rag covering a small block of ice and a bottle of pills into Matt's hands (who almost dropped them), then he slammed the door in his face, and yelled, "Never again and I won't have to kill you alright?"

He peeked an eye out the door only long enough to reply, "Quit slamming doors and breaking things or we'll have to move into a smaller, _one_-bedroom apartment! Just kidding, please don't kill me!" Mello, who was in the kitchen by now, picked his gun up, aimed it a Matt's head, lowered it, then threw a month old apple at the already closed door.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey!! i don't know if i like this chapter, but it's extra long as an apology for making you wait 3 weeks, if you were waiting, probably weren't though...

Anyhoo, i'm having trouble coming up with a storyline as usual, so review and help me!? Oh and i put the other side of Matt's and Near's conversation, so you might want to re read that part of last chapter...sorry, bye

* * *

About a half an hour before Matt finally passed out (and never got around to calling a certain creepy albino kid back), Near woke up again in the hospital. This time he had enough energy to call Watari.

No, the crazy awesome detective was sleeping again, but the old man could come by if he needed anything. Near declined saying he had to call someone else who was probably just as worried about him as the two of them.

Because his phone was (hopefully) in L's room with his other things, Near had to remember the number Matt had told him once three years ago after the redhead had put it in his speed dial, so that he never had to, get this, "remember it a few years from now". In other words he remembers random things from three years ago even though he had to have looked at a million other phone numbers by working on the Kira case! (I can't remember five minutes ago!)

He waited for a few seconds for Matt to answer.

_Right to the point, I see, he must be stressed._ "No, Matt, he's asleep. They told him they wouldn't give him cake tomorrow if he didn't take his medication."

_Matt's in pain? Did Mello hear my ringtone?_ Near looked around the room to see if anyone had left him a puzzle or toy of any kind.

"What's going on, is Mello in the room?"

_Mello, worried about me? That seems almost as possible as him giving up on our contest. _"Yeah, Mello left me a note. I don't remember you being here though."

_They must have me on something strong to make __me__ forget that. _"I woke up? I'm sorry it's weird that I can't remember." He randomly looked at the IV drip and found that he was on Morphine.

…_BB- that dream!_ "…BB…I must have woken up in the middle of my dream…is your head alright?"

_Mello probably had something to do with the table…_ "I guess you're right, I - oh, okay, bye."

That's when Watari came into the room with his cell held a foot from his ear and a look of annoyance on his face. Near tilted his head and put his hand in his hair for a moment before he figured out Roger will have gotten the news. He's probably being pelted with questions himself back at the orphanage.

"Roger won't do as I say if it's about one of you children. Kindly be off within five minutes, you do have to take your medication, too. Does anything hurt, by the way?"

"No, the Morphine is doing fine." Near said as he took the phone with a dead look on his face.

-Next Day-

Matt and Mello managed to get all of their five minutes of hacking for the Kira case and yelling at random Mafia members in, so they decided to visit the hospital for the doctor's final word on the present and future condition of L and Near.

So, Matt went outside to wait in the car, then he noticed the gas gauge was on "E". _Taxi? Damn, no money. Oh, never mind, enough to get __half __way there. _

The red head would have to walk half way to the hospital with a complaining Mello. He had thirty seconds to come up with a plan.

He was smiling as he got out of the car. His smile only got wider when Mello came out of the apartment and jumped down the last three steps.

"Do you think they're awake?" Mello walked over to the car, starting to wonder why Matt wasn't in it.

"Don't worry, Mel. I'm sure Near will like the way you fixed your hair for him!" Matt only had a second to realize that had nothing to do with what Mello had said, mostly because Mello hadn't noticed either and was currently chasing Matt down the street.

Since Mello was in his stupid pretty leather boots, he was running maybe one mile per hour slower than Matt, giving the red head enough of a lead to turn around and see that Mello now had his gun out. _That went better than expected!_

_Okay, halfway there…dodge the old lady…Oh! I know- whoops, don't run over kids!- the bus stop looked about half way…shit, a cop!_

"Mello, cop! Gun! And don't kill me in front of kids! Ow, damn!" _That cat sounds almost as mad as Mello…shit, a fruit stand…more kids…_

By the time Matt ran into the bus stop sign, an apple and two oranges had hit him in the same spot the table had hit him the night before.

"Truce, Mello, stop! We didn't have any gas! I was just kidding!" Mello made it to the bus stop and punched Matt's arm.

"Why didn't we get a bus or taxi, then? And why did we stop here?"

"We don't have bus pass things and we only have enough money to get a taxi half way there."

"Then go get a fucking taxi! I should just make you walk the rest of the way though…"

"You wouldn't have complained the whole way here?"

"That's no excuse, that cop almost saw me!" Grumbling, Matt went to stand on the side of the road to look for a taxi.

-Ready for some plot?-

An hour later, after Matt got out of punishment land (no D.S.!! – eeeeek!), him, Mello, and Near were waiting for L and Watari to come with the doctor. Earlier, Matt decided, and Mello agreed, to wait in the hall so that the chocolate addicted mafia leader wouldn't yell or death stare at Near for too long.

Near seemed fine as far as the two of them could tell, he wasn't talking much, but that was probably nothing to worry about. It was when Watari rounded the corner that Matt realized Near probably wasn't going to talk to L at all today.

He was in the room by the time the doctor and L got around the corner

"Near! Can you handle talking to L?"

"I suppose it's too late if I can't, am I right?" As if they were listening the whole group walked in right then.

"…Then tell Miss Amane she will just have to wait, I don't know how you put up with her."

"That's just it, I don't know either!" The boy most of the people in the room thought was Kira and L finished their conversation with Mello glaring at Raito.

"Just stand over by the window and keep _quiet_. Near…you look better, I see." L walked to the other side of Near's bed so that Raito could do as he was told.

Mello just then remembered that Matt had conveniently forgotten to finish the story the night before, so he started glaring at him too. The doctor was looking at the chain that binded L and Raito when the blonde huffed past him and to the other side of the window.

"Oh, right…Mr. Kaito…will you please sit down, you are a patient after all… you're shoulder, as you know, I'm sure, probably won't heal for a long time. You can't strain it in any way, so you should wear a sling on that arm-" Raito started laughing _quietly_ by the window, "- that…chain probably isn't a good idea…"

"I'm simply proving a _point_ by wearing it and a sling will make whatever arm usage I have left disappear altogether. I'll figure something out, now, about Evan?" He gave Raito a look, then waited for the doctor to switch charts.

"Yes, Evan, we'll have to monitor you for longer, whereas Mr. Kaito can leave today, you will have to stay at least another week or two. The bullet just missed your heart, but the cartilage from your ribs shattered and spread through your chest cavity, we'll have to do more X-rays and probably another surgery to get those fragments out. We tried during the initial surgery, but you flat-lined twice, so we decided to let you heal a bit before finishing."

Even Raito and Mello (who was pretending not to care) looked up startled. L nodded, obviously already figuring this out. Near tilted his head trying to figure how many times he flat-lined.

"That's at least three times his heart stopped, how is _it_?" Matt had skipped looking at the doctor at all and looked at L first.

"I imagine that's part of the reason Evan must stay here. Dr. Kurotan, I have his regular EKG on file, here," he handed the doctor a sheet of paper with crazy looking up and down lines, "it looks nothing like the one you are currently recording." To emphasize his point, he pointed at the EKG machine connected to Near.

"I'll put a MRI on the list, then. Evan, do you feel light-headed?"

"Not really."_ If he wasn't on the Morphine, he probably would, they/we'll have to take him off that to make sure though_, L, Raito, and Dr. Kurotan thought.

"'Guess we can't play tennis for a while, huh, _Hiro_?" Raito said after a few seconds of silence.

"It's not like you would have won anyway, Raito."


	10. Chapter 10

ok, this chapter is probably gonna be edited a little, few days maybe. this was supposed to be a Raito and L chap. but it's not, so next one will be. oh and hope no ones too attached to the nurse, hint for next chapter! Please REVIEW, i love reviewers!!

"'_Guess we can't play tennis for a while, huh, _Hiro_?"_

"_It's not like you would have won anyway, Raito."_

Raito sighed and looked out the window angrily as L went to talk to the doctor. When Dr. Kurotan finally left, L turned his gaze back to the brunette by the window.

"Raito?"

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?"

"Will you go wait in the hallway?" The detective tilted his head, put his thumbnail in his mouth, and waited for the answer.

If you didn't know L, you might think this was an innocent question. For many reasons, Raito knew differently. He was only being polite, what he meant to say was, "If you don't leave, I'm gonna take two feet off this chain, but not before I put you through that window."

The detective knew that Raito knew what he meant because he was upset and it showed in his eyes. He knew how Raito was going to respond, because he also knew that Raito knew he was upset. Make sense? It does to them.

To put it simply, even though he wanted to talk to his three successors alone, he still had time for games with his captive.

"Are you going to go with me, then?" was Raito's choice response along with holding up his cuffed wrist for emphasis. There was a gleam in L's eyes that quickly disappeared, but that's not what made Raito smirk. The kiddies in the room figured out what was going on with the two college students and were visibly holding their breath, which was funny to Raito.

"Of course not, Watari will keep an eye on you. I wouldn't be stupid enough to leave you alone again today." He looked over by the door where Watari was. The old man nodded and dug around in his pocket for the key to the chain. L caught Near's questioning gaze at the word "again".

"I hope your cake has poison in it." Near turned around to ask Matt what exactly happened yesterday.

"That's probably something Kira would say, don't you think?" Mello almost started laughing, but Watari gave him the "don't encourage them" look as he went past with the key.

"No, he'd say 'I hope you have a heart attack'." Raito stuck out his arm towards the old man, but instead he went and unlocked L's side of the chain.

"How do you know what he'd say, Raito?" Near made a noise and spun around to look at L and Raito. Matt had gotten to the phone/nurse concussion part of his story.

"Why would he put poison in your cake if he could just give you a heart attack from 'x' feet and/or miles away?" Raito sighed and glared at the detective as he bent down to collect the chain L had let fall to the floor.

"That's exactly the argument I would expect from Kira." L sat back down in the chair and folded his legs up; the game was over.

"I'm _not_ Kira!" Raito grudgingly acknowledged this and huffed out of the room with Watari following right after.

L had to cover his mouth to keep from showing his smile as Ratio cussed loudly after his cell started blaring one of Misa's songs.

"Why don't you just like, oh I don't know, kick him off a building?" Mello asked, ripping open a chocolate bar.

"You know very well there isn't enough _solid_ evidence." He rolled his eyes at Mello (he liked to pretend to be normal in front of his little geniuses) and turned towards Matt and Near.

Matt was in the process of taking out a Gameboy Advance and his PSP and handing Near the older game by the time L got turned around. "I told you I could find that Transformers cartridge if I tried." When he noticed L watching them, he said, "We can't visit again can we?"

"Yes you can, but not together or as often as you might like. Watari already gave Nate here his secure cell phone back, though. Obviously when you do come, stay away from the cameras. These visits don't happen until you contact Watari, no more than five times each. And no, Mail, Miheal cannot give you his visits." When he stopped to look at each of his successors, Near was staring at the blank screen of Matt's Gameboy, Mello was nodding, and Matt had a "damn, he knows all of my tricks" look on his face.

"Breaking of these two rules will result in no longer being able to visit or arresting certain mafia members, depending on who," he looked at Matt, "is the one breaking them."

As soon as he was satisfied everyone understood (five seconds later), he went out into the hallway.

"Shit, Mello can you go beg some taxi money from L? And gas money? And chocolate, food, and cigarette money? Tell him Linda will make him that cake he likes, won't she, Near?" He put his hands together as though he were praying to Mello, God of Chocolate.

"I don't beg, and I haven't forgiven you for this morning." But he walked into the hall anyway.

The blonde found L and Raito chained together again, both on the phone with Watari fiddling around with a Blackberry a few feet more down the hallway. He wasn't about to ask for anything that would make L or himself look even halfway bad in front of that Kira s.o.b., he'd just ask the old geezer before they left.

Raito hung up first, looked up, saw Mello, scowled, crossed his arms, and faced L, who, by now, had also hung up and noticed the blonde with a half finished chocolate bar staring blankly at the wall next to Raito.

"Mih-Michael?" Only when he made a clinking noise with the chain that made Raito cringe, did Mello realize one of them had talked to him.

"Oh sorry, what?"

"I've decided that before we leave, the three of us are going to go talk to Nurse Hinaguchi from yesterday. I understand the two of you got to know each other?" Mello almost blushed, but then remembered the two in front of him had something to do with it.

"Yeah, whatever. I already apologized for the other times, I'm only going to make sure she's okay."

Blah, blah, blah, they go to her room (I know, not funny, but I'm lazy), but she's not there. So they kidnap Matt from Near's room, take Watari away from whatever he was doing, and alert the security guards of her absence.

"Hey Mello? Why didn't you ask the guards by the elevators where I was yesterday?"

"God damnit, that's how that bastard found us so fast! Oh, but maybe we should go look up on the roof."

"She has a concussion right?"

"Yeah, I know! What about it?"

"If she's standing too close the edge of the roof and her brain decides it's a good time to stop working, she's gonna fall off."

"I don't see how she would have even gotten up there though, now that I think about it."

"Let's just make sure anyway though." L and Raito had the same thought and L decided to turn a corner before Raito knew what was going on and the younger almost ripped both of their hands off because he kept going straight.


	11. Chapter 11

Ok so yeah i put off writing this and then i didn't have internet and it's two in the morning and all i have to keep me awake is grape flavored water so if this chapter sucks, please do tell and if it doesn't tell me and so basically: PLEASE REVIEW!! i will love you if you do. i might end this fic soon, it's really getting further and further away from a coherent plotline. ENJOY and stuff.

…And it all ended with Matt almost falling (practically jumping) and hanging off the roof. Well guess who really did jump off the building. Raito? No, he's too cool to do something so stupid. Near, Misa, Matsuda? No, no, and no! A certain brain damaged, hallucinating nurse? Yep!

Five minutes earlier…

"Oh, hi, uh Kaito or Ryuuzaki or whatever. We're going to the roof. Is that where you were headed?" Matt decided to let Mello glare at Raito while he talked to the ghost-like detective.

"Yes, but there's no reason all of us should go. We'll go check the Operating Rooms. I believe they're on this floor." And so, the chained college students who haven't gone to class in like six months walked off down the hall.

"Hey Ryuuzaki? Can we stop in the restroom first? And don't say 'no', because I'll tell Misa on you," L opened his mouth to respond, "and don't say I'm being childish," L shook his head and opened his mouth again, "and if you suggest that Kira can read minds, I'm gonna strangle you with this chain." L sighed, letting Raito think he won the argument for a minute and opened the bathroom door.

"If you told her, you know very well she wouldn't leave either of us alone for a week, you are being childish, and threatening me will only get you killed sooner." Raito closed the stall door a little too hard. Somehow they managed to finish in the bathroom with only one person nervously leaving, thirty seconds of squabbling, and a small child asking L if he was a zombie. A new record.

"So why do you think Miss Hinaguchi left her room?" Raito asked when they were back in the hallway and back on course.

"It doesn't really matter as long as we find her. It'll look like we are normal people with nothing better to do than to care what happens to others." He paused when he noticed the look Raito was giving him.

"I'm just stating what you already know and think. Forgive me for saying it aloud." Raito caught on that the detective was implying he always pretended to care about people.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not completely emotionless-" Blonde hair and black leather came into view behind the detective.

"Hey! Ryuu-uh, I mean, Kaito! We found her, the nurse!" L turned around to face Mello with a sigh.

"Good, is Matt bringing her to her room?" Mello flinched and turned back around, walking back towards the stairs.

"No, that's why I came looking for you! She thinks, well I don't really know what she's thinking, but she says she's gonna jump off the roof and Matt's trying to talk her down, but let's be honest, he's not a talking kind of person so he's just gonna make it worse." They were at the door to the roof by the time Mello finally got done explaining.

Both Raito and L paused at the sight before them. Matt had managed to get within three feet of the woman standing on the edge of the building. The nurse looked over and noticed the blonde guy she knew she knew was on the roof. It took her a few seconds but then she recognized the other two as the beautiful brunette having a panic attack upon seeing his creepy friend unconscious.

"For the last time, you have a concussion and we are on the roof of a hospital, no one kidnapped you!" The gamer gave a "help me!!" look in the general direction of the three at the door.

"I'm afraid I don't see any other option…" L shook his head at Mello, then turned and faced Raito, "I think you're the most sociable person on this roof. Use that charm or whatever nonsense you call it and get her safely off the roof."

Mello almost screamed, but held it in and only glared as L took the cuffs off. L motioned towards the two on the edge of the hospital, Raito nodded and put his best smile on.

I suppose two things could have happened right at that moment

1) Raito did some bullshitting and the nurse believed him and got down off the ledge and securely into his own and Matt's hands.

Or (and this is the one that happened)

2) She jumped after Raito had taken two steps towards her and the gamer. This only happened because Matt had closed the three-foot gap and had grabbed her arm, thus apparently proving they really had kidnapped her and were going to experiment on stupid and deadly cancer treatments on her.

That is also how Raito, when Matt didn't let go in time and started to lose his balance, was the closest and was the one to grab Matt's arm. He had rushed forward so fast it took him a moment to realize he had just saved someone who was trying to kill him.

The weird goggled kid waved him away and he stood up for a solid two seconds before that other weird blonde kid practically jumped on top of the latter looking for injury. _Maybe now we can go back to headquarters and sleep…_

He looked around for the detective and found him on his cell once again a yard away. Apparently he had gone look over the edge of the building to give the guards and EMT's an idea as to where they would find the nurse.

"Yes, but I'm afraid that is as much information you are going to get from those of us who witnessed this incident." He hung up and almost immediately started to type in a new number. "Matt, Mello would you please go downstairs or possibly home before the guards and police get up here."

"Hm? Oh, right. 'Can't be in association with L or seen as such.'" Mello knocked Matt on the head when the red head made no move to get up. "Come on, call that freak later. We are going home and you are going to need to stay in the hospital if you don't stop getting hit on the head and falling off buildings." Mello had gotten Matt to the stairs when he turned and said, "See you later, L."

"Wow, he didn't scowl at me for once." Raito said a few seconds after the detective got off the phone with Watari.

"He didn't even look at you, so how could he have scowled at you?"

"Do you really not know when I'm trying to be sociable with you? I haven't asked you yet, but I want to ask you when I know you won't have enough time to answer me and thus maybe give me a better answer than, 'because I thought you were wrong and proving you right'." And of course heavy booted footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs.

"What did you prove by walking down the street, with that Near kid nonetheless, when I told you one of the Kira supporters had said he knew where to find you and what you looked like and that he was going kill you?"

A million guards/policemen/doctors came rushing through the door before L could even feel the slightest bit guilty for hurting Near for the hundredth time in the past few days.

Nothing important happened according to either boys' standards until about one o'clock that morning when Raito came to the conclusion that the detective was avoiding him by "catching up on the work they had missed".

"How in the hell do you expect to fix that arm of yours if you don't get any sleep and only eat sweets constantly?" Raito called into the other room, not expecting an answer. Much to his amazement, the detective shuffled to the door so he wouldn't have to yell to be heard.

"I have medication and some sort of vitamin. Now, hurry up and sleep so we don't waste any more time on investigating Kira."

"Whatever. Watari will have a talk with me in the morning anyway about not letting you die, I'm sure." He said this to himself more than to the detective who was already out of eyesight.


End file.
